Sandy Lee

Yes, absolutely, and we do that already. I believe when we were in Tulita, the Member and myself, the grand chief in fact recognized us for having streamlined the funding proposal process and they were able to access funding. On a daily basis our staff does work with band councils or municipal governments to help them with the application process so they can access the funding that we offer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NGOs are just one form of organizing a group of people together with like-minded philosophies and goals and desires to advance the causes that they work for, whether they be environment or women’s issues or family violence issues or a whole number of areas that NGOs are involved in.

In terms of being able to access program funding or tap into government programs, this government considers applications from groups other than NGOs, because we are very well aware of the fact that small communities don’t necessarily have these NGOs. So we often work with local societies...

Mr. Speaker, I am willing to work on a plan to bring to the Members to consider that. Mr. Speaker, in order for us to have dedicated essential services in the communities, I believe we need to look at changing the way our health delivery system is set up and look at whether we need to change the administrative system we have, which is by boards and they get block funding and, as it is set up right now, the boards decide how those resources are going to be allocated. In order for us to do it differently, we need to look at changing that and that’s part of consideration that we are engaged in in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the Member’s concerns about some of the gaps in services. We have worked to bring back some of the mental health worker positions in Fort McPherson. We’re doing a pilot project in Fort McPherson, but we are also engaged in looking at the overall system to make sure that we have strengthened services available in the communities. In the coming weeks I will be working with the Member to close some of the gaps, especially in the Beaufort-Delta region where we are seeing some harder challenges. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the Status of Women Council has named the recipients of the 2010 Wise Women Awards.

This is a prestigious award. The Status of Women Council of the NWT has been honouring northern women since 1992 for their wisdom, strength and accomplishments and particularly in working to make our communities better and stronger for all.

Mr. Speaker, these women are all known for their ability to stand with dignity no matter what hardships life has handed them.

They are known for fighting for the disadvantaged and downtrodden. They are known for thinking of others and...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Dental Auxiliaries Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Dental Auxiliaries Act to provide that an applicant for registration in the Dental Hygienists Register who is not already registered as a dental hygienist in a province or territory must have both graduated from a program in dental hygiene accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada and have successfully completed the National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination set by the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any position like that, if there were any vacancies for any reason, the authority would be using locums to make sure that those duties are fulfilled. I’m not aware of details of what the Member is raising. That’s the first time I’ve heard of it, so I’ll take the question on notice and get back to the Member.

My understanding is that this equipment is very advanced but simple to use and that there are people allocated in each community to use that machine, but I will undertake to get more details on where these defibrillators are located in each community and who are authorized to use them and how they are trained to do so. Thank you.

On that specific file the government has recognized that there are only a few shelters that are funded in a specific way. We recognize there are other communities without shelters that need outreach and support. Not everybody wants to be able to or wishes to take advantage of a shelter, but we have people in the communities who need the support on family violence issues. We have put in money to do the outreach work. I’m not sure where we are with that money for the Sahtu region, but I will make a commitment to get back to the Member as to how we are reaching the communities on that.

That is a good example. I need to state clearly that the reason that application was not able to be approved was not because it was not coming from an NGO but because the funding for that specific fiscal year had been fully subscribed. We are considering that application for the next fiscal year, which is coming up on April 1st.

I can also advise the Member that we have had applications from other communities like Fort Resolution and we worked with people interested in accessing that funding to find a sponsor in that community who could apply for funding. We are totally able and we will work...